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On the night of the Gengchen day in the ninth month of autumn in the second year of Jingxuan.
The great army had departed northward from Shuzhou almost half a month ago. When passing through Xuzhou, they encountered Han Peng’s troops who were heading north from Zizhou by imperial decree. Seeing the Emperor’s forces there, Han Peng dared not proceed first and immediately set up camp alongside the mountain, respectfully awaiting the imperial will.
As the two armies joined camps, their banners covered the sky and their tents stretched far, with endless military encampments pressing down upon this mountain range with the dark color of iron and blood.
He had been looking for her when, turning around a bend in the mountain path, his eyes fell upon a clear lake with rippling blue waters.
The barren mountain body seemed to break off at this spot. In the distance, the mountain peaks were arranged in a pleasing pattern, diagonally sheltering the setting sun that was about to fall, casting a golden hue upon her as she stood by the lake.
Her ears were sharp. Hearing the sound of hooves behind her, she knew he had come and quickly turned around, smiling at him across the sunset twilight, “How did you find your way here?”
He was still dazed by the lake’s beauty, but his gaze softened as he watched her smile. He then nimbly dismounted, casually patting the rump of his black steed, sending it to drink water by the lake, before walking to her side.
The evening breeze gently brushed her forehead, raising a thin mist over her eyes.
“It’s truly beautiful,” she said softly, as if afraid to disturb the scenic beauty.
He reached out to encircle her waist. “Do you like this place? While I was discussing matters with Han Peng, you came alone to the mountains to admire the lake?”
She smiled gently, “When we set up camp during the day, who could have imagined such scenery behind this desolate mountain?” She raised her hand to point to the east, looking at him and saying, “If not for Qingyun running off on a whim, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have found this place.”
He looked at the shape of the reddish-brown steed and unconsciously tightened his grip on her waist. “If not for your wandering off at will, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have found this place either.”
She pretended to be annoyed, but upon seeing his somewhat mischievous expression, she lowered her eyebrows and leaned into his embrace, gazing at the red clouds in the distance. After a while, she said softly, “There are countless beautiful scenes within the four seas. Although we cannot visit them frequently, just knowing that these ten thousand li of territory are all mountains and rivers in your palm makes me feel content.”
His brow moved slightly, his voice carrying some other meaning: “Yet this place is not just my Ying family’s domain, but also your fief, Meng Tinghui.” To avoid pressing against her uncomfortably, he raised his hand to untie the sword at his waist, hanging it on a nearby tree branch.
Hearing his words, she looked up and caught sight of the sword, suddenly recalling the scene when she first held this sword in Ruisi Hall before leaving the capital. It seemed only at this moment did she truly understand the deep meaning in his words back then.
How could she have imagined today’s events at that time?
He seemed to know what she was thinking, directly grasping her chin to make her look up. His eyes darkened as he leaned down to kiss her.
She breathed slightly. She was never a shy person to begin with, and especially after traveling thousands of li with the army, where could they find such mountain and lake beauty in the camp? Now, with his light teasing, several small flames sprouted in her heart, hissing as they burned.
The sound of Qingyun’s hooves irregularly entered her ears, followed by a long neigh as the horse appeared before them in the blink of an eye.
She opened her eyes, her face flushed, and met Qingyun’s innocent, bright black eyes. Feeling embarrassed, she pushed him and said, “Even in front of the horse…”
His two hands had already rudely explored inside her clothes. He leaned to her ear and said, “When we left the capital, in Ruisi Hall, you promised me something. Do you still remember?”
His touch made her breathe lightly again, and she rested on his shoulder with a slight frown, unable to help but bite him through his robe.
Of course, she remembered clearly.
At that time, she thought it would be a final parting in this life. He had humbled himself as an emperor to ask her for a wish; how could she not agree?
Later, when the flames of war spread outside Shuzhou city, she rode out of the city to intercept his imperial carriage. At that time, her heart and mind were thinking that regardless of what she owed him, she would repay it in this lifetime.
“A child…” Her hands clasped behind his shoulders as she said softly, “I promised to give you a child.”
He laughed in a deep voice, turning his head to kiss her earlobe. His hand inside her clothing quickly moved upward, hearing her soft moans that she couldn’t suppress. Then he explored downward bit by bit, until she frantically reached out to stop him.
“What is it?” His voice was fiery.
Her ears were crimson as she glared at him: “There are two armies camped at the foot of the mountain. If someone comes looking up here, you may not care about the Emperor’s dignity, but I still have to care about my face…”
She had thought that their encounter in the imperial carriage outside the back gate of the Di residence was already extremely improper, but now he wouldn’t even spare this desolate mountain area during the military campaign.
His deep black eyes carried a hint of charcoal red, as if scorched by fire. Not waiting for her to finish speaking, he gripped her waist and turned her around, pressing her against a nearby tree. He lowered his head to gently kiss the back of her neck, increasing the force of his hands, ignoring her resistance completely as he explored downward. His throat was hoarse: “That time you teased me in the Eastern Palace years ago, did you care about the slightest bit of face?”
His touch made her heels go soft. Hearing his words, she immediately felt her scalp tingle, knowing exactly which incident he meant. She felt embarrassed now, and intended to explain, but could not resist his kneading. Her body surrendered before her consciousness could.
The lake breeze carried moisture as it drifted over. The sky gradually darkened, and at the camp gate at the foot of the mountain, the light of torches flashed, jumping like stars, approaching the mountainside.
In her hazy consciousness, her hand was pulled by him and pressed against the tree trunk. Behind her, his breathing became increasingly heavy, and she heard his voice, dry to the core: “Hold on tight.”
Hold on tight…
Before she could react, he had already fiercely invaded her. With a deep breath, his hands gripping her waist also used more strength.
She couldn’t help but let out a high-pitched sound, her two hands pressing hard against the rough bark. She felt a tingling sensation climbing up her spine to the top of her head, completely extinguishing her consciousness.
Yes, from that year until now, whenever she encountered him, had she ever cared about the slightest bit of face?
It was so in Baohe Hall, in the Eastern Palace, in the West Mountain hot springs, outside the back door of the Di residence, not to mention every time in Ruisi Hall was soul-consuming to the bone…
“Your Majesty!”
A distant high shout suddenly rose in the wilderness, and the bright torches in the distance seemed to have come much closer.
Her scattered consciousness immediately gathered, her heart leaping to her throat. Her body could not help but shrink nervously, “It’s the patrol!”
He had been kissing her delicately, but now her contraction made him let out a muffled groan. The rhythm of his movement suddenly quickened, each thrust coming forcefully, clenching his teeth without making a sound.
Her body was completely weakened by his onslaught, yet she dared not make a sound, fearing that she would attract Chai Shao and the other officers who were looking for them. She could only bite her lip and hold firmly to the tree trunk, letting him have his way.
“Your Majesty!” “Are the Emperor and Empress here?”
The searching calls came alternately near and far to her ears, and her consciousness also rose and fell. Her fingers began to involuntarily dig into the tree bark. The feeling was extraordinarily stimulating, so stimulating that she could barely catch her breath. All the blood in her body surged to one place, boiled by his body, then flowed back to her heart through her limbs and meridians…
In the end, she could no longer support herself on the tree trunk and instinctively reached back to touch him, grasping his wrist with all her strength, her entire body trembling almost to the point of convulsion.
He trembled lightly along with her, opening his mouth to bite the side of her neck. The breath from his mouth was extraordinarily hot, his body covered in sweat.
After a long time, she gradually returned to her senses. Her knees weakened, and she fell back into his embrace.
He held her, planting kisses on her still trembling red lips, sometimes lightly, sometimes heavily. His eyes showed lingering passion, mixed with tenderness. The corner of his mouth curled into an intoxicating smile.
She rested for quite a while before slowly raising her eyes to look around. Seeing that the torchlight had disappeared and no longer hearing the voices of Chai Shao and the others, she felt somewhat relieved.
But at a glance, she noticed that Qingyun was also nowhere to be seen, which made her somewhat anxious.
He, however, appeared composed, massaging her waist as he slowly said, “The two horses must have been spotted and led away by Chai Shao. He’s not a fool.”
She froze momentarily before reacting. Her face suddenly flushed red again as she exclaimed anxiously, “This… I truly have no face left this time!”
To her surprise, he smiled serenely, “What are you afraid of? I said it already, Chai Shao is no fool.”
She pushed him as if angry, but unexpectedly, he came over again to pull at her dress, causing her to hurriedly say, “How can you be so insatiable?”
“Such a wonderful night, such beautiful scenery.” His voice was like an aphrodisiac, piercing directly into her ears. “Give me a child tonight, will you?”